Skip to main content

Craving for Khaosuey

You know what I love more than biryani? A success story in Karachi's competitive food and beverage industry. One such recent addition is Saniya's Kitchen, which started off really small as a stall at Karachi Eat Festival a few years ago, and there's been no looking back since for the owner who has put her heart and soul into her work, Saniya. When she invited my friends and I for a taste testing of her menu, I couldn't help but be honored and humbled that she trusted my taste buds. Now, even though this was an invitation the feedback given directly to the owner was honest, direct and at times, brutal because it is only when we truthfully share our concerns and give constructive criticism that an eatery thrives and grows.

Starting off as a home-based business selling delicious khaosuey, Saniya has since then opened a small eatery on Seher Commercial Avenue, right in the lane of The Burger Shack. The nicely lit sign in grey is pretty easy to spot upon entering the lane, and the eatery itself is nicely lit and has both chairs and benches to accommodate customers.

The menu boasts a primarily Thai menu, but also has a few specialties thrown in such as chicken strips for kids and and Kung Pao Chicken. The pricing of the food items is beyond reasonable, considering the ingredients used for the dishes. The helpings are enough for two to three moderately hungry people, and are definitely worth a try.

We were stuffed to our gills with all the food my friends and I tried. The fried wontons were definitely different with a mayonnaise and chicken mince filling, something I'm positive my dad would love. The Tom Yum Soup had kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and bamboo, imparting all their aromatic flavors into the coconut milk concoction. Moving on to the mains, the star of the show for me was definitely the crabs. The spice on the shell went well with the sweet tender crab meat inside, so prepare to get down and dirty with these beauties. The next hit with everyone was the Garlic Rice, strongly seasoned with garlic and just absolutely delicious on its own. The Thai Red Curry for the price was sufficient, and feedback was given to the owner for improvement. The tender succulent pieces of Mongolian Beef was the next hit item on the menu, followed by the Kung Pao Chicken, which I didn't even get a chance to try. Thanks, guys -_- I also enjoyed the tangy flavor and tender Tamarind Fish, which while cannot compare to other eateries, has a flavor profile of its own and is definitely worth a try.

All in all, this was a fun and well-spent evening with friends eating delicious food and celebrating the success of yet another local eatery. Wishing Saniya all the best in her future endeavors.















Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Amazing Thai - For the Love of Ramen

Disclaimer: A friend sent me this ramen to try, so I didn't pay for it, but my opinion is as honest as it always is. Okay, I have to admit. I'm a sucker for packaged, unhealthy, and sinfully delicious ramen. So when my friend Omer, husband of the very famous Eman's Cakes (A blog is up on that already, by the way) told me he wanted to send over authentic Thai ramen to me, imported from Thailand, was I going to say no? Of course not! What arrived at my doorstep was this: Of course, there was no sign of English anywhere on this, but packaged ramen aren't that hard to follow through with. So out came the ramen itself into the bowl, along with the shrimp flavored powder, the spicy sauce that makes everything come together and a guesstimate of the water I wanted. What I ended up after nuking it for 2 minutes was this: This was soupy, spicy, not particularly strong in shrimp taste, probably because I added way too much water, but that's how I like it, 2 me...

Burger Heaven

Oh My Grill, oh my daaayyysss! Why had I not visited you till today? I had a tough time deciding what I wanted, but after a discussion with the hands-on owner behind the counter, decided upon the Gourmet Swiss Mushroom Melt. Decided to do a take away since it isn’t too far away from home. The burger itself was heaven in my mouth. Let me count the ways: 1. The burger bun was a solid, reliable, man of a burger bun. Stayed in one piece right till the very last bite. 2. The burger patty was as promised; thick, juicy, well-seasoned 250 grams of beef. 3. The caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms were done to perfection. The sauteed mushrooms were tender, not fried to death till they were rubbery and hard. The onions were caramelized just enough so that there was still a little bit of a crunch, a bite left to them, not a stinky, soft, sweet mush of brown pyaz. 4. On to the star of the show. The Swiss cheese. Allah Miyaaannn, that cheese. Tangy, salty, melted on that burger pa...

Bonsai Pan Asian Kitchen

This blog will be like pulling off a band aid. Relatively quick, but a little painful. Okay, who are we kidding? My blogs are never short :p Visited Bonsai Pan Asian Kitchen earlier this evening with my parents, aunt and uncle. The menu seemed to be the standard offerings of the Pan Asian food fad that has gripped Karachi in its clutches as of late.  My father ordered the Tom Yum with chicken, which he really enjoyed. It was reminiscent of Baan Thai which was our first love, but has closed down unfortunately. I ordered the Som Yum papaya salad which was very fresh, with the strong flavors I'm accustomed to. The kicker in this which won me over was the generous, juicy, large serving of prawns. The best part was, the seafood did not smell, and was definitely a highlight of my evening. My aunt ordered the Special Seafood Chowder which she really enjoyed, but to be honest it was corn soup with a whole lot of vegetables and prawns in it. I didn't see any fish. calamari or...